France 2007 was the World Cup which incorporated a game of touch rugby at 2am on Montpellier's aptly-named Place de la Comedie and the experience of winding up in Eddie Butler's bed. Eddie, it must be emphasised, was not even in the same country at the time.
It was a tournament of unexpected emotions. It was impossible not to feel sympathy for Martin Corry as he sat in a room at Versailles answering questions about England's poor start. He doubtless thought he had seen the last of that role, and his inquisitors, when he stopped being captain, only to reinherit the role when Phil Vickery got hurt. Yet not long after, Corry would be playing in the World Cup final.
For this particular Welshman, there was the experience of not wanting Wales to win. Losing to Fiji at Nantes continued Wales eight-yearly cycle of South Pacific humiliations, but Fiji really deserved and needed it. Losing, after leading 25-3, would have hurt Fiji far more than it did Wales. The ruthless execution of the try that sealed a 38-34 victory showed a fresh Fijian dimension , even if the shamefully shabby treatment of losing coach Gareth Jenkins by the Welsh Rugby Union felt all too familiarly Welsh.
The Fijians would have been the underdog heroes of a normal World Cup. They won gloriously demented contests with Canada and Japan. Beating Wales earned a quarter-final against South Africa in Marseilles, where they seriously scared the Boks, scoring two tries with a man in the sin-bin to level at 20-20 and leaving the eventual champions relieved when they failed to capitalise on attacking scrums.
But this was in many ways Argentina's World Cup. Allotted their usual sacrificial opening night role, they revolted against the script and saw off France in Paris. They put Ireland's campaign - which but for a couple of blown line-outs might have included a defeat by Georgia - out of its misery and saw off Scotland to become the first team outside the Foundation Eight to make the final four at a World Cup.
Losing to the Pumas precipitated the French into the quarter-final path of the All Blacks, in Cardiff - the host nation forced out on the road. Much French expectation was expressed by Les Guignols de l'Info, a Spitting Image-style satire show in which three blue-shirted puppets - one clearly intended to be Sebastian Chabal, whose media presence was so pervasive that former Australian coach Eddie Jones asked "Do you think they've got any other players ?" - recited a French version of the haka whose chorus translated as "It's not fair. It's not fair. They are bigger and stronger than we are, and I want my Mummy."
Half an hour into the contest, watched at a party in Marseilles where almost everyone stood to sing La Marseillaise pre-match, fellow journo Tim Glover leaned across and said "What more could we want? We're in France. The World Cup's on, and there's red wine, good food and beautiful women." "A decent match", was my response, since the All Blacks were cruising at 13-0.
Even this wish was gratified. Inspired by a stupendous tackling stint from Thierry Dusautoir, the French first hung on then fought their way back. The swing in fortunes was evident at the moment the French celebrated Dusautoir's try and the cameras swung to show Dan Carter limping off. But where New Zealand's ejection by France in 1999 felt like an Act of God, this was more brainmelt. Two points down in the last few minutes, the most famous rugby team missed the trick obvious to Old Reptilians 4ths - going for a drop goal.
That mistake was never likely to be made by the other team who turned the World Cup on its head that day - England. Jonny Wilkinson had dropped two goals in each of their pool stage wins over Samoa and Tonga, ensuring they qualified in spite of a 36-0 mullering by South Africa. While it was penalties only in the 12-10 quarter-final defeat of the baffled Australians in Marseilles, yet another Jonny drop would complete the semi-final defeat of the French.
With the Boks knowing too much for Argentina in the other semi, the night before the final saw the Pumas play the hosts for third place. There were transport strikes, the match was on the far side of Paris and this is routinely a contest of the demotivated and depressed. But after giving a radio interview about the final being my 100th World Cup match, there was a moral obligation to schlep laboriously across the French capital to the Parc des Princes for the 99th.
Mark one up for moral obligation. Of course Argentina would rather have been in the final, but they had exceeded expectation by reaching the final four. They played like a team who still cared and celebrated as though they meant it after winning 34-10. The length-of-the-field try initiated by Ignacio Corleto and finished by Martin Arambaru may have been the best of the tournament.
England's pre-final mood was in marked contrast to 2003. They were relaxed and slightly disbelieving, happy to be there. Maybe they knew that, having somehow persuaded Australia and France to play them at their own game, they now faced opponents who were not only happy to play that game but were better at it. Victor Matfield ruled the line-out, enabling the Boks to simply sit on the game.
Mark Cueto's near-try for England was rightly disallowed, but if given would have demanded a response from the Boks. Instead none was needed, and much of the match proved that it is indeed possible to be bored at a World Cup Final. But the right team won, and there was at least something unexpected about the aftermath - the austere Thabo Mbeki maintaining South Africa's record of memorably animated responses to victory by their heads of state. UK prime minister and proud Scot Gordon Brown probably did not enjoy being announced as 'Prime Minister of England' and then booed by their fans quite as much.